Only counting marriages that I have very close understanding of: Between my wife's immediate family and mine I've had personal insight into 11 different marriag

Only counting marriages that I have very close understanding of: Between my wife's immediate family and mine I've had personal insight into 11 different marriages, a mix of both types. Still a small sample size relative to the population as a whole, but not nothing. In that set, the only healthy marriages are first timers. It's certainly not enough to draw any conclusions, but that's why all I actually argued is that OP's claimed success pattern doesn't seem to be true in my experience.